| As former communist countries have proceeded with market reforms, they have become more enmeshed in the international economy and their involvement in economic globalisation continues to grow. While economic theory suggests that this should bring several economic advantages to transitional economies (such as greater diversity of choice of commodities, lower costs as a result of greater economic specialisation, enhanced economic growth as a result of liberalization of capital and technology transfers), the social and environmental consequences of globalisation have in many cases not been favourable so far. Unemployment is emerging as a major problem in some transitional economies, social safety nets (especially for women, children and the elderly) have... |
